So last April I bought my first-ever batch of baby chicks & have managed to successfully raise (most of) them to maturity with no real major issues. They're about 10 months old now.
My flock is mostly production reds, a couple of black sex-links & a handful of feed store EE's- currently two hens and a rooster (lost two last year to a neighbor's dog).
Most of the flock started laying last August at the normal age; they were all the same age (give or take a week or 2)....and by September I assumed they were ALL laying because for a while I was getting 15-16 eggs every 24 hours, from 20 hens. I figured I probably had a few birds laying daily & a few who laid every other day.
I was thrilled about the quantity of eggs- but I was a bit dissapointed that ALL of the eggs were BROWN! Different shades of brown, two birds consistently laid double yolks and one hen laid a light tan egg with speckles, I was thankful for each & every one.....but.....I had been SO excited about my EE's and the prospect of getting those greenish/bluish eggs! I'd always wanted EE chickens ever since I was a kid & read a true story in a Reader's Digest about an EE hen! So it was a bit of a bummer when my birds shut off their "egg machines" at the beginning of winter without anyone ever giving me any fancy-colored eggs.
I knew hatchery EE's could lay brown eggs, that they're "mutts" and the blue-egg gene isn't a guarantee.....so I'd long since given up on getting blue eggs from my girls. Loved 'em anyway even though I thought they were "duds" LOL....figured I'd try again with more chicks this year, from a different hatchery!
So today, I went out to feed & water....checked the nest box because I've had one or two hard-working gals giving me an egg or 2 every couple of days since January....and imagine my suprise when I found TWO GREENY-BLUE EGGS sitting next to two brown ones!! I could have jumped for joy!
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I ran inside and woke up my husband from a dead sleep, just to show him that OUR EE GIRLS AREN'T DUDS AFTER ALL!! Their eggs are a lovely shade of greenish; one darker than the other, and they're small & pointy just like the first eggs I got when the other birds started laying. I tried for photos with my cell phone but the color didn't come through well- I'll try again with the real camera next time! Due to the size/shape I'm sure this has got to be their first eggs. I'd read where other people's EE's had been late-maturing egglayers but I guess I didn't think mine would wait this long to start!
So hopefully this can be encouraging for any of you who are waiting as eagerly as I was for those first few pretty blue-green eggs......it may take those EE's a little longer to warm up their egg machines! Patience!
My flock is mostly production reds, a couple of black sex-links & a handful of feed store EE's- currently two hens and a rooster (lost two last year to a neighbor's dog).
Most of the flock started laying last August at the normal age; they were all the same age (give or take a week or 2)....and by September I assumed they were ALL laying because for a while I was getting 15-16 eggs every 24 hours, from 20 hens. I figured I probably had a few birds laying daily & a few who laid every other day.
I was thrilled about the quantity of eggs- but I was a bit dissapointed that ALL of the eggs were BROWN! Different shades of brown, two birds consistently laid double yolks and one hen laid a light tan egg with speckles, I was thankful for each & every one.....but.....I had been SO excited about my EE's and the prospect of getting those greenish/bluish eggs! I'd always wanted EE chickens ever since I was a kid & read a true story in a Reader's Digest about an EE hen! So it was a bit of a bummer when my birds shut off their "egg machines" at the beginning of winter without anyone ever giving me any fancy-colored eggs.
I knew hatchery EE's could lay brown eggs, that they're "mutts" and the blue-egg gene isn't a guarantee.....so I'd long since given up on getting blue eggs from my girls. Loved 'em anyway even though I thought they were "duds" LOL....figured I'd try again with more chicks this year, from a different hatchery!
So today, I went out to feed & water....checked the nest box because I've had one or two hard-working gals giving me an egg or 2 every couple of days since January....and imagine my suprise when I found TWO GREENY-BLUE EGGS sitting next to two brown ones!! I could have jumped for joy!
I ran inside and woke up my husband from a dead sleep, just to show him that OUR EE GIRLS AREN'T DUDS AFTER ALL!! Their eggs are a lovely shade of greenish; one darker than the other, and they're small & pointy just like the first eggs I got when the other birds started laying. I tried for photos with my cell phone but the color didn't come through well- I'll try again with the real camera next time! Due to the size/shape I'm sure this has got to be their first eggs. I'd read where other people's EE's had been late-maturing egglayers but I guess I didn't think mine would wait this long to start!
So hopefully this can be encouraging for any of you who are waiting as eagerly as I was for those first few pretty blue-green eggs......it may take those EE's a little longer to warm up their egg machines! Patience!
